Another planet like earth

YOU might not spend much time thinking about the end of the world, but others are actively preparing for it.Billionaires are already investing in super-bunkers in case of nuclear war, with some proving to be more luxurious than the hotels many of us stay in during our summer holidays.But now there's something even more phenomenal in the pipeline, with claims new tech could be used to set up colonies on MARS.Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has no shortage of world-changing ideas, having launched the electric car firm Tesla and pioneered a new form of public transport called the Hyperloop.He also founded a rocket company called SpaceX in the hope of cutting the cost of space travel and making it cheaper to bring supplies to the International Space Station.How? By developing a way for rockets to be used more than once, according to Business Insider.That might not sound like much, but at the moment rockets are a one-use affair which cost tens of millions of … [Read more...] about Why the mega-rich want to move humanity to another planet using a fleet of reusable rockets

Astronomers have discovered a "second Earth" orbiting our closest star and it could have exactly the right conditions to sustain alien lifeforms.Stargazers from the European Southern Observatory spotted the mystery world circling Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star that's just four light years away.The planet is orbiting in the "goldilocks zone" of Proxima Centauri, which means it's close enough to the star that water would not freeze but far away enough so that water wouldn't boil.This is important because the presence of liquid water is thought to be necessary for the development of life.Read more: Humanity is first and ONLY intelligent species, researchers claimNow scientists are trying to figure out a way of getting a robotic probe to the planet to see if it is home to alien organisms, although this is not a mission many of us will live to see.Using current rocket technology, it would take 76,000 years to get to our nearest star.However, … [Read more...] about Planet orbiting Earth’s ‘closest neighbour’ Proxima Centauri could be home to ALIENS

THE first ever Mars show home opened in London today - giving a glimpse of how colonisers might live on the Red Planet less than two decades from now.The futuristic igloo-shaped des res is on display for the next week at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.Space experts created the Martian house to help visitors imagine what it could be like if humans establish a city on the inhospitable planet in the year 2033.It would be situated in the Valles Marineris - a 2,500-mile system of canyons that runs along the equator of Mars.As the Martian atmosphere is hundred times thinner than on Earth, colonisers would spend almost all their time indoors.Houses would be dug underground with only a small portion above the surface, and would be connected by a network of tunnels.The show home depicts a typical dwelling made from recycled spaceships and Martian soil microwaved into bricks to make a sturdy building material.Although the show home is small, in reality the … [Read more...] about World’s first Mars show home goes on display in London giving a glimpse of life on the Red Planet in 2033

FOR as long as mankind has walked the earth, the human race has been predicting when and how the world will end.Recently, conspiracy theorists focussed on a mysterious planet called Nibiru which would smash into the Earth on September 23, 2017. Let’s take a closer look at the different “End of Days” theories – both crackpot and rational.David Meade, a Christian numerologist, first predicted that Planet X or Nibiru was hurtling towards the Earth and would wipe out humanity on September 23, 2017.But after his ridiculous prediction, based on hidden numerical codes supposedly hidden within the Bible, failed to happen, Meade has changed his barmy claims.Meade told The Sun Online that people have misunderstood his prophecy and the doomsday will take place over a period of seven years starting in October.The seven-year transition period will include solar flares that could destroy electricity grids, nuclear attacks, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, … [Read more...] about When is the end of the world? Planet X and other doomsday theories explained – plus what scientific evidence tells us

MASTERMIND Stephen Hawking has warned that the human race will perish on Earth after we turn it into a sizzling fireball in less than 600 years.He declared that humans must “boldly go where no one has gone before” if we fancy continuing our species for another million years.If we don’t, the world will become overcrowded and increased energy consumption will turn the planet into a ball of fire because of our soaring energy consumption as the population rises.Making a video appearance at the Tencent WE Summit in Beijing on Sunday, Hawking appealed to investors to back his plans to travel to the closest star outside of our solar system, with the hope that a livable planet might be orbiting it.Alpha Centauri is one of the closest star systems at four billion light-years away.Scientists believe it may have exo-planets that could foster life, just like Earth.Hawking is backing Breakthrough Starshot, a venture to reach this system within two decades using a tiny aircraft … [Read more...] about Stephen Hawking says Earth will become a sizzling fireball by 2600 and humanity will become extinct

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will pass Pluto closer than ever before on July 14. The spacecraft, which was launched in January 2006, will fly within 7,750 miles (12,470 kilometers) of Pluto's moons. Planetary scientist Philip T. Metzger answered DW's questions about the latest findings and expectations of the mission. DW: What is the importance of the New Horizons mission in the context of space exploration history? Philip Metzger: It's important to know where we are in the universe, what kind of a home we live in, and where we fit into the big picture. That's what this mission is doing. It's as if we have been living in a big house where we have never looked into the largest rooms - but now we are cracking open the door and getting the first peek to find out what kind of a house we are in.What do you expect to find out about Pluto? The Pluto system is complex, consisting of at least six bodies: Pluto and five or more moons. It is a binary planet system, because Pluto and its … [Read more...] about NASA scientist: ‘Call Pluto a planet’

At 07:31 on August 6, Central European Time, after a journey of more than eight months and 500 million kilometers, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) - also known as Curiosity - landed successfully on the Red Planet. Shouts of delight erupted simultaneously from the NASA live feed and inside the European Space Agency, the ESA's operations center, where scientists and researchers had gathered to witness the event. At NASA's request, the Mars Express, which is controlled by ESA in Darmstadt, had been moved into position to observe the landing. The spacecraft has remained in orbit around Mars since December 2003, when ESA's Beagle 2 landing failed. The Curiosity landing was dubbed the "seven minutes of terror" because ground control had to endure an agonizing seven minutes of radio communication silence after the craft entered the planet's atmosphere before it knew whether it had landed successfully. Mark McCaughrean, ESA's Head of Research and Science Support, … [Read more...] about Curiosity lands on Mars to cheers on Earth

Scientists have discovered three or four new Earth-like planets outside our solar system that exist within the very thin "Goldilocks" band between too hot and too cold that makes them habitable. Spotted by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler telescope, two of the planets are the closest to our solar system of any detected before - at about 500 and 1,100 light years away. "We are now closer than we have ever been to finding a twin for Earth around another star…these candidates represent the closest analogs to the Earth's own system found to date," said Fergal Mullally of the Kepler Science Office at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, where the paper presenting the findings was given. The two planets are likely to be rocky like Earth, not gas giants or ice worlds. They are approximately the same size as Earth, and receive about the same amount of energy from their stars as we do from our sun. However, considering their positions, if they have atmospheres similar … [Read more...] about NASA telescope Kepler discovery brings scientists closer to another Earth than ever

It's a rarity of rarities, and it has got planetary enthusiasts the world over in an orbital spin. On Wednesday at 10:51 UTC, Mars will officially be a 'mere' 55.76 million kilometers (34.65 million miles) from neighboring Earth, which is closer than it has been since the time of the Neanderthals. The big red planet has been slowly moving in on Earth for the past few months, and has been visible as a bright orange object in the night sky for many weeks already, outshining everything else in the firmament but the Moon and Venus. With a clear sky and a small telescope, Mars fans should be able to make out surface details of the planet, such as its southern ice cap. Out of orbital sync The scarce nature of this neighborly visit is written in the stars. Like a racing track, the orbital paths of Mars and Earth run roughly alongside one another, with Earth on the inner track on a more-or-less circular orbit and Mars on a more elliptical path around the sun. As they are never quite in sync, … [Read more...] about Mars Moves in on Earth

With the planned Christmas Day landing of the Beagle 2 probe on the surface of Mars, Europe's first mission to another planet, a new chapter will be written in the history of European space travel. But even as history is made, scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) and the national space agencies throughout the 15-member consortium are busy creating blueprints for the future of space exploration. DW-WORLD recently sat down with Sigmar Wittig -- chairman of the board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the agency that administers Germany's space program -- to discuss the Mars Express and other major missions ESA and DLR are planning for the future. What is the importance of the Mars Express mission for the European space program? The scientific mission -- to see whether there is water and life on Mars -- is of utmost importance . From a German point of view, there are some instruments on Mars Express and on the Beagle 2 that are significant. There’s the High Resolution … [Read more...] about With Space Program, Europe Looks To Mars and Earth